Interviews

In this conversation, hosted by RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Roosevelt Montás discusses his recent book “Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation”.

Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič in conversation with Stefano Bottoni, author of a recent Italian-language book about Viktor Orbán.

In this interview, Agnė Rimkutė discusses with Raquel Varela the importance of seeing the working classes as actors in the historical process and the implications of people’s history for our understanding of democracy.

Melissa Feinberg in a conversation with Ferenc Laczo on Her New Textbook Communism in Eastern Europe

Dirk Moses in the second part of his conversation with Ferenc Laczo on the diplomacy of genocide and the deeply sinister ambitions of permanent security

Our editors Laszlo Bruszt, Oliver Garner, Kasia Krzyżanowska, Ferenc Laczo, and Michal Matlak discuss their favorite RevDem content, as well as the year’s highlights and the most significant developments of the year.

Dirk Moses in conversation with Ferenc Laczo on his last book “The Problems of Genocide. Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression”.

Michal Matlak interviews Alberto Alemanno in the aftermath of the publication of the first batch of recommendations coming from the Conference on the Future of Europe Citizens’ Panel. This initiative provides an opportunity for a highly diverse group of randomly selected ‘ordinary’ European citizens to voice their wishes with EU-level decisionmakers on how to change the European…

Marius Turda in conversation with Ferenc Laczo about A Cultural History of Race.

Richard Youngs in conversation with Michal Matlak about citizens’ attitudes towards democracy, transformative power of protests movements, citizens’ assemblies as well as democratic innovations on the European level. 

In this interview Laszlo Bruszt, Co-Director of the CEU Democracy Institute and Editor-in-Chief of RevDem, explains the inspiration behind the CEU Democracy Institute and RevDem, how East-West and North-South divisions define Europe, and why the EU confederal regime weakens vulnerable member states.

Barbara Grabowska-Moroz discusses the current state of the rule of law crisis in Poland, the arduous relationship between the EU and Polish courts, and how this impacts EU Member States.

Emily Greble in conversation with Ferenc Laczo discusses what foregrounding Muslims’ agency implies for the writing of European history; what were key legacies of the Ottoman Empire and how Muslims became a distinct legal minority; in what ways they related to the major political movements of the twentieth century; and how focusing on their experiences…

Bence Bari interviews Tamás Dombos, the representative of the Hungarian LGBTQI organization ‘Háttér Society’ concerning the recently adopted Hungarian anti-LGBT measures, their transnational and historical background with respect to the global dynamics of acceptance, and homophobia between the Western and Eastern hemisphere.

Michal Matlak interviewed Professor Julie Smith, Baroness of Newnham, who is a Liberal Democrat parliamentarian in the British House of Lords. They discuss referendums, the causes and outcomes of Brexit, the negotiation strategies of both the EU and UK, the likelihood of the UK returning to the EU in the future, and how the COVID-19…

In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Emily Levine (Stanford University) discusses key ideas in her new book “Allies and Rivals: German-American Exchange and the Rise of the Modern Research University”, a transatlantic monograph that draws on extensive historical research and applies sociological theory to study how the academic social contract was repeatedly renegotiated in…

In this wide-ranging conversation occasioned by the release of his The Dream of Europe. Travels in the Twenty-First Century, Geert Mak discusses why he chose to write a sequel to “In Europe. Travels Through the Twentieth Century”.

In conversation with RevDem editor Robert Nemeth, Dean Starkman, senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, talks about the Pandora Papers and how tax avoidance and secrecy endangers democracy.

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Gábor Tóka talks about the Fall 2021 Hungarian opposition primaries

Michal Matlak interviews Zsolt Enyedi about the development of Church-State relations in Hungary, Viktor Orban’s vision of Christian Democracy, why the Democracy Institute plays an important symbolic role in Budapest, and about his recently published book, “Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe”

Lea Ypi in conversation with Ferenc Laczo about her new memoir “Free: Coming of Age at the End of History” and how the people who populate its pages help her connect historical experiences with philosophical thought; how she experienced and dealt with the rupture of 1990 that forced her to reassess her childhood; how that…

Our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska (EUI, CEU) talks with Samantha Rose Hill, professor at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, about her recently published biography of Hannah Arendt. 

“More often than not, we get the sense that events are unfolding in the background, often detached from individuals, and that yet they will somehow influence individual lives” says Dr Elise Hugueny-Léger, Senior Lecturer in French at the University of St Andrews, in this interview with Kasia Krzyżanowska.

Our assistant editor Teodora Miljojković (CEU) talks with András Sajó, Professor in the Law Department of Central European University and former judge of the European Court of Human Rights about his new book, the tactics of illiberal regimes, their relationship to the rule of law, and shortfalls in the EU’s reaction.

Aldo Madariaga discusses his latest book “Neoliberal Resilience: Lessons in Democracy and Development from Latin America and Eastern Europe” with our editor, Giancarlo Grignaschi.

Oliver Garner interviews the author on his book ‘Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe’

Vilius Kubekas in conversation. with the author of the book “What is Christian Democracy? Politics, Religion and Ideology”.

Martin Krygier on how to understand the rule of law crisis from a teleological perspective.

Ireneusz Paweł Karolewski on the new quality of politics in the Visegrád states.

Our editor Ferenc Laczo interviews Jonathan Hoslag (Free University Brussels) on his book “World Politics Since 1989” (Polity Press).

Our editor Oliver Garner discusses with Laurent Pech the ongoing tensions between Poland and the Court of Justice of the EU.

RevDem editor Ferenc Laczo interviewed historian Konrad H. Jarausch, Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about his latest book Embattled Europe: A Progressive Alternative, a rich and finely balanced portrait of contemporary Europe.

Ferenc Laczo in conversation with Samuel Moyn (Yale University) about his book “Humane. How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War”.

Artur Domoslawski, the author of a monumental Zygmunt Bauman’s biography in conversation with our managing editor, Michał Matlak

In conversation with our editor Ferenc Laczo, Mitchell Orenstein, Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses post-communist transitions.

Stefano Palestini speaks with Cuban sociologist Elaine Acosta about the meaning and causes of the popular uprising against the Cuban government

Ferenc Laczo talks with Jennifer Evans (Carleton University) about the new Holocaust memory debate.

How can we employ technology to facilitate the democratic process? Which platforms are more democratic than others? These and more questions are answered by Kevin Esterling, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California in a conversation with the RevDem assistant editor, Catherine Wright. 

Ferenc Laczo discusses with Mira Siegelberg her latest book “Statelessness”, the story of a much-contested legal category.

Last week three RevDem editors interviewed Guy Verhofstadt, co-chair of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Today we are publishing the edited transcript of this conversation.

On 4 July 2021, Chile’s “unexpected” Constitutional Convention commenced following a grassroots civil revolution against the current regime since 2019. Co-Head of Section for Cross-Regional Dialogue Stefano Palestini Céspedes (Catholic University of Chile) interviews Julieta Suárez-Cao (Catholic University of Chile) and Patricia Politzer (Journalist and Member of the Chilean Constitutional Assembly) to discuss their roles…

Do populists pose a threat to constitutional democracy? Are populists always the villains in our tales about democracy? Bojan Bugarič answers these questions in a conversation with Kasia Krzyżanowska. He also talks about his recent book on the relationship between constitutionalism and populism, co-authored with Mark Tushnet.

Ferenc Laczó spoke to Stephen Wertheim about his new book, Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of US Global Diplomacy. The book explores the moment in which the US decided to lead the post-war world.

Petr Agha, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Copenhagen in the iCourts Centre of Excellence for International Courts of the University of Copenhagen, discusses the clash between populism and antipopulism, and the implications for Europe, in conversation with Oliver Garner.

What is the societal dimension of the rule of law? How can we improve democracy on the European Union level? Is there a place for citizens engagement in design of the Conference on the Future of Europe? Paul Blokker, an associate professor at the University of Bologna, in a conversation with Kasia Krzyżanowska, unpacked all…

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Ferenc Laczo discuss with Martin Conway his latest book “Western Europe’s Democratic Age,1945-1968”. You can listen to the podcast or read the edited transcript below.

RevDem Editor Ferenc Laczo is discussing the book “Planet on Fire. A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown” by Mathew Lawrence and Laurie Laybourn-Langton with its authors.

The EU rule of law framework is not the best way to check compliance with the EU’s basic values, says Gábor Halmai in a conversation with RevDem’s assistant editor Teodora Miljojković.

On April 21, Review of Democracy and CEU Democracy Institute hosted Adam Bodnar, Polish Ombudsman.

Kasia Krzyżanowska talks to Douglas G. Morris, a legal historian and practicing criminal defense attorney with Federal Defenders of New York, about his newest book on Ernst Fraenkel.

Our editor-in-chief Laszlo Bruszt asks Adam Przeworski about the contemporary relevance of “Sustainable democracy”, a seminal book published 25 years ago.

In the second part of the conversation, Jan-Werner Müller interviewed by Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič talks about populism and employment of emotions, and on bipartisanship and political conflict.

Michael Zeller, in a conversation with Kasia Krzyżanowska, talks about far-right mobilization campaigns and the processes of their de-mobilization. 

Jan-Werner Müller, in an interview with Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič, talks about the functions of contemporary political parties, the role of the constitutional courts and the future of European Christian  Democracy.

Conference on the Future of Europe: The process is more important than the outcome. Interview with Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor in European Union Law & Policy at the HEC in Paris.